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April 15, 2022 • Schneps Media
BY MYRIAN GARCIA
The Standard will debut
the Roller Rink, a brandnew
seasonal installment
on The Standard Plaza.
The Roller Rink will invite
guests to travel back in time
to the 1960s with a rink and
restaurant inspired by the decade.
The space will feature
black and white checkered turf
and colorful seating surrounding
the stark white, 136 person
skating rink.
The restaurant will be available
for skaters and non-skaters
alike. The Rink menu will feature
tasty bites such as Disco
Fries, Fried Chicken, The
Standard Hot Dog, and Maine
Lobster Rolls. Additionally,
Beverage Director Aaron Robin
created a list of cocktails to
choose from. Enjoy beverages
both off and on the rink with
a wearable drinking pouch, allowing
for hands-free fun as
you cruise around the rink.
Besides the rink and restaurant,
guests will enjoy weekly
programming and events that
will include themed skate
nights, disco parties, drag
shows, amateur roller derbies
and designated kids or adultonly
skate hours. The inclusion
of events will enhance the 60s
skating experience and celebrate
all forms of skate culture.
Rental skates are available for
all guests in the Skate Shack.
Besides the skates, and for
those ready to take their skating
skills up a notch, a collection of
Roller Rink t-shirts, bandanas,
tube socks and patches will be
sold at the Shack.
Furthermore, a special collection
of skates from a Brooklyn
and Portland-based skate
shop, Five Stride, will also be
sold at the Shack. Five Stride
Skate Shop is a full-service
quad roller shop serving derby,
rink, recreational, ramp and
park skaters.
The Standard Hotel’s new
and groovy rink will launch at
The Standard Plaza on Friday,
April 22.
THINGS TO DO
The Uptown Night Market is back bringing great food and fun to Harlem every second Thursday of the month.
BY AIDAN SEIDEN
One of Uptown Manhattan’s
largest and most inclusive
food festivals is back every
second Thursday of the month —
bringing with it more than 50 eclectic
food, merchandise, and artistic
vendors from all around the city.
The Uptown Night Market, hosted
by MASC Hospitality Group in
collaboration with the West Harlem
Development Corporation, Community
Board 9, and other partners,
returned on April 14 for its “sequel”,
says the founder of Uptown Night
Market, Marco Shalma.
“This is where you double down
on everything you’ve done in the
first year. Last year was coming
out of the woodwork and creating
something that Harlem has not seen
before,” he said.
Following the success of its flagship,
the Bronx Night Market,
Shalma —who is also the founder
of MASC Hospitality Group—and
his team set out to find similar communities
where they could share
their enthusiasm for food, art, and
support of local businesses.
The inspiration behind his newest
Night Market venture came
when one of Shalma’s favorite restaurants,
Covo Trattoria & Pizzeria
in West Harlem shut down.
“I recall going every Sunday
to Covo to taste their signature
eggplant dish. When it closed a
few years ago, it was one of the
many in the area that dissolved,”
said Shalma.
Determined to not let another
one of Manhattan’s treasured restaurants
close its doors, Shalma
was quickly connected with Zead
Ramadam, Executive Director of
the West Harlem Development Corporation,
and in a matter of months,
Uptown Night Market was holding
its first event. However, to Shalma’s
dismay, the opening day of the festival
coincided with the biggest flood
NYC had seen in decades.
“It was just a mess, I’m talking
about water to knee high,”he said.
“But you know what, we kept a
good attitude, we kept smiling, and
a month later we came back and
the community that had really been
waiting for us just showed up.”
Although the Uptown Night
Market is staged underneath The
Harlem Arches because of their
“one-of-a-kind, cinematic presence,”
as Shalma described it, there
is another, deeper rationale behind
his choice of venue.
“When I say Uptown, for us it’s
anything above 110th street, and
the reason for that is because this
is where we feel comfortable. This
is where there is a community that
looks like us, that speaks like us. It’s
more immigrant community, more
POC community, you know?”
The MASC Hospitality Group
greatly values the Harlem community,
PHOTO COURTESY OF UPTOWN NIGHT MARKET
they said, making it their
mission to prioritize small and microbusinesses,
as well as female,
LGBTQIA, POC, and immigrantled
businesses, when selecting vendors
for the festival.
Not only are the businesses at
Uptown Night Market all-inclusive,
but so are the attendees.
“It became an event that was celebrated
by everybody. And in the
middle of Harlem, having the level
of community that comes together,
which is young and old, all colors of
the rainbow, all sexual denominations
or what not, and bringing the
crowd together. There’s something
for everybody, and then some.”
With limited restrictions, this
year’s Uptown Night Market promises
to be unlike anything Harlem
has ever seen. “It’s all about bigger
and better,” Shalma remarked.
To RSVP for the Uptown Night
Market, you can purchase a ticket
on uptownnightmarket.com.
Roller rink
debuts at
Standard
Good times on the menu
Uptown Night Market aims to boost local biz, food and art
/uptownnightmarket.com
